Rotorua, New Zealand

Yesterday’s “Place to See” on Patrick’s “Places to See Before You Die” calendar (thanks, mom!) featured a place called Rotorua on North Island, New Zealand. According to the calendar Rotorua is the center of a thermal field. What is that?, I wonder. After a little research I have found that these are areas on the Earth’s surface where cracks have opened up in the crust. These are called “fumaroles” and they usually emit gases like carbon dioxide and sulphur and often interact with the groundwater. How cool! I have never seen anything like this but I imagine it would be very intriguing– when else do you get to experience the “guts” of the Earth?

I checked out Lonely Planet’s entry on Rotorua and it mentions that the city is known as Sulphur City because of the ever-present stench of rotten eggs. Yummy! It also said there is an active geyser there that shoots hot water 20-3o meters into the air and many bubbling mud baths. Let’s bookmark this one for the trip!